Community Futures hosts Business after Business

Community Futures hosted Business after Business on Thursday as part of their 30th anniversary celebration, and Kootenay residents packed into the space to hob-knob, break bread and take advantage of the expansive spread.

“To give you a small sense of the impact of Community Futures of Central Kootenay: through our loans program we’ve given out over $32 million in loans to 800 businesses,” executive director Andrea Wilkey told the room, noting that through their self-employment program they’ve been able to help 1600 businesses open.

Two of those businesses were on hand: Celestial Scoop and Cake Betty, with operators Roger Smith and Meadow Caya sharing free samples of their goods.

“Next week is business week, but at the Chamber of Commerce we like to celebrate small business all the time,” said executive director Tom Thomson. “That’s really why we’re here: to celebrate small business.”